Hunting
by StardragonXX
Summary: Dragons. Females roam in groups, avoiding males in order to avoid forced mating. What happens when two groups collide when two male follow two dragons from a female group. Will they treat them like any other run of the mill male, or will the dragonesses finally stop running?
1. Chapter 1

**Hunting- Chapter one**

~Dragon realm~

* * *

He growled low in his chest as the older, and bigger, dragon reared up on his back legs, the small sparks fizzling at the back of his open maw a sign of the incoming breath attack. Natsu sprung forwards, feigning a shoulder pin then ducking to swipe Laxus' feet out from under his heavy frame. The lightning dragon grunted as the air left his lungs, rolling out of the way of a fiery claw swipe to the face.

The two dragons that were watching just shook their heads, the gray scaled one letting out a loud sigh while the ice blue one began bouncing on his feet.

"Gray..." the gray dragon mumbled.

"What?" He asked, halting his bouncing to look at his friend.

"Do you ever think that we'll come across a female pod, its been nearly five decades and _all_ we've seen are other males. I feel that we are a dying breed."

"Jellal, you are depressing as hell sometimes. I bet we'll find a group of females before we reach Tenrou." Tenrou was a special nesting island for dragons, where both sexes could rest in close quarters. The only problem was that a male could not begin to court a female there, elder guardians there were dragons older than 1000 years old that had spawned a hatchling of their own. Those were, in most cases, the over-protective parents of the incoming dragons.

Also, the strongest dragon of their time would be there, and no one wanted to be caught chasing his daughter around like a lost puppy.

"Hey, Ice bucket, come fight me!" The hellfire dragon that had fought the lightning dragon was now in a pouncing position, facing the ice eater, muscles flexing and rippling. Gray smirked and copied his stance, icy claws tearing at the ground as his tail whipped playfully behind him.

If these two dragons liked anything more than they did fighting, it was unknown. As they launched at each other, the lightning dragon from earlier came up beside the grey scaled dragon, shaking his gold scaled head with a loud sigh.

"Those two are gonna kill each other one day."

"Don't we already know... Wanna go out for a hunt?" Jellal grinned and nodded at the idea, following Laxus as he lead the way away from the clearing the group of wandering males had settled in. Gajeel watched them go, one red eye tracking them before slipping closed. Laxus huffed and shook himself free of any imaginary dust.

Both fully grown and standing nearly sixty feet tall, the the fallen angel dragon and the lightning dragon made quite the dangerous looking pair. Laxus was all gold with a few red scales that trailed from the corners of his stormy grey eyes to the base of his horns. Large, white dragon's wings were pressed against his back, as wide as he was long.

Jellal had two sets of soft silver birds wings, and his tail is a thick fan of feathers once it reaches about three quarters of the length. His scales are a mix of dark and light greys, with patches of creamy white as well.

They ducked through the undergrowth, eyes searching for their next meal. Because of how huge dragons got, they usually hunted Slashers, which were larger than average deer that had gnarly looking hooves that could cut through almost everything, sans dragon scales. An adult could eat seven to ten per day.

The herd had about fifty slashers, enough to feed the entire group. Just as they were about to attack and kill the lot of them, two small blurs darted out from the bushes, one black as night, the other a tan orange colour. The two dragons had all of the slashers piled up in less than three seconds.

The bigger of the two had black scales that were tinted in blues and purples, with silvery white scales scattered like stars in the night sky. On her legs, the scales made tribal patterns. Her wings were wide and soft, black with grey speckled feathers that nearly draped down to the ground. Her tail had a thick fan of feathers, similar to Jellal's, the feathers blending from black to a rose colour. Her talons, surprisingly, were dark red.

her partner had tan orange scales that blended to look like a shell, darker orange stripes running across her back, making it look even more realistic. Her tail was long and segmented into two halfway through its length, each tip ended with spikes that could gut even Gajeel's steel hide. Her wings were a sandy white, and seemed to be abit shorter than average, her claws serrated and metallic grey in colour.

"Nice job Lu, no way Erza could tell us that we can't go on hunts now! We didn't even lose _one_!" The smaller one squealed. Laxus chuckled quietly and rolled his eyes, settling himself down. Just because they'd lost their prey, didn't mean they'd miss out on the golden opportunity of finding females. It wasn't like they were claimed or anything, a male would never let his mate out of his sight if they weren't at Tenrou.

"There should be enough for five of us... Let's get back, Erza will kill us if we leave late, and i really wanna see papa again..." 'Lu' whined, picking up half of their haul in her front talons. She sat back on her haunches and waited for her friend, then waddled off when Levy was ready. Their bellies were out in the open, so it wasn't hard to tell they'd never got into a real fight. Any dragon would know to never show their bellies, even if they were in a safe place.

"Lu, how far is Tenrou from here?" Levy asked. Jellal bristled as he answered the question mentally. Tenrou was a three day trek then a half day flight over the ocean.

"three and a half days. You know, papa said that the tree's going through its season again, there's gonna be a dance and everything! Plus an empress is showing up!" Empress was the title of a pregnant dragoness, to be exact, a pregnant dragoness that was the eldest in her nest.

"Really! I haven't seen an empress..." their voices faded as they got further away. Laxus jumped to his feet and they followed the duo, low to the ground, trying to hide. The females had set up relatively close to them, although their camp was by a stream and had trees blocking the sky out. There were six, two curled up by a fire, one floating in the stream, one hanging from a tree by her tail, and the two dragons they'd followed.

One of the dragons by the flames jumped to her feet and sauntered over, ruby coloured scales bright against the dark of the forest. She was two heads taller than the dark scaled dragon, and a head shorter than Jellal.

"Good job you two. I was really worried that you wouldn't find anything." Lu scoffed and gave a cocky smirk.

"You forget, my dad's the strongest and the smartest dragon in the past two thousand years. He raised me, so i know how to catch a slasher." She boasted, the tan orange dragon beside her nodding.

"I forgot, how is he these days anyway? I haven't seen him in the past three centuries."

"My gods Erza, he's been so demanding, always sending letters saying that i have to tell absolutely everything that happens. It's annoying." Erza chuckled and shook her head.

"He's worried about his daughter, you are, after all, the only hatchling he and Layla had, plus you _just_ fully matured two decades ago." Layla, where had they heard that name before? Laxus and Jellal had been to Tenrou on multiple occasions, and they'd only ever heard of one Layla.

"Oh shit..." the lightning eater swore loudly. The three females' heads turned to face them, eyes wide. The dark scaled dragon reacted first, launching forwards at them with a roar.

"Erza, Levy, get everyone out of here!" The others complied, Erza pulling the sleeping white and black dragon to her feet and Levy dragging the water dragon onto dry land. The one that was hanging darted over to Erza and the other dragon.

Jellal rolled out of the female's reach, only for her tail to smack him in the face and blind him momentarily. She dropped her jaw and let out a breath attack, a stream of darkness and what looked like pure sunlight spiralling together towards Laxus.

The crackling funnel of lightning that clashed with her attack pushed it back a few feet. 'Lu' cut off her roar and jumped into the air, wings carrying her high above the tree tops. Her amber coloured eyes narrowed at them as she took in a deep breath ready to unleash another breath attack.

The fallen angel dragon reared back on his hind legs and pumped his wings twice, bringing himself to the dark scaled dragon's level.

"We don't want a fight, we'll leave you be if you stand down." He reasoned. She didn't seem to believe him, a huge ball of blackness and sunlight tearing through the sky at him. Having nearly no time to react, all Jellal could do was block with one set of his grey, feathered wings.

He howled in pain as it hit him, the attack searing some of his feathers, freezing others into ice. subconsciously, he realized she wielded an element that was both hot and cold. She could be extremely deadly.

When the pain had faded, he realized that she was right infront of him, tail wrapping around his throat. Laxus, who was hovering just below them, glanced off to the right, scoffed, and glided back to the ground. Why wasn't the lazy brute helping, Jellal seriously didn't want to hurt this female.

Just as he was about to kick her off, a blur of red tore her away from him, the dark reds of his traveling companion's scales a relieving sight as the two crashed to the ground.

* * *

Natsu and Gray were play fighting when the hellfire dragon got a feeling that something was wrong. So, he'd cut their game short and looked around. Gajeel was asleep in the harsh sun, the reflection of it's light blinding against his steel scales. Laxus and Jellal were nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Ice princess, I'm gonna go see if anything's up with Sparky and Jellal." Was all he said as he jumped into the air, beating his fiery wings to carry him higher. He looked around with a critical eye, spotting a dark coloured creature but overlooking it. Natsu didn't find anything with the first scan, but when he looked over the surrounding area again, he realized that the figure resembled a dragon, from the long tail, horns, wings and build.

It's tail was curled around a grey scaled dragon's throat, whom he realized was Jellal, claws reaching out to attack. The hellfire dragon didn't waste a second, racing towards his friend and the unknown dragon. When he was close enough, he paused for a millisecond, focusing on the dragon's side, then tackled them off of Jellal, forcing the dark scaled dragon to the ground. The dragon roared at him, lashing out with sharp talons and catching the side of his neck. He snarled as they hit the ground.

His opponent whined in pain, lying on their side, wings spread at their sides as they tried to breathe.

"Natsu, don't kill her!" Jellal's voice rang in his ears, and the hellfire dragon took a good look at the female. She was, to say the least... beautiful.

She seemed to embody the night sky, with a slim but curvy frame. Her wings were soft and downy looking, and he wondered if they would be warm if she wrapped them around him. Her sharp talons reminded him of his own scales, dark red. Her body seemed slightly smaller than an adults', so he guessed that she was around his age of five hundred and fifty.

Amber eyes watched him as she dragged herself to her feet, white teeth bared in a snarl. His once dormant animal side roared to life, trying to get control.

It saw her as a possible mate, and it wanted to show her that he was a good candidate. Narrowing his eyes, he lowered into a low pouncing stance, a possessive growl ripping from his throat.

"What's your name?" The question came out before he could stop himself. A dragon's name was one that stated their power, their last name would be the brand of magic their strongest parent held, which was usually passed down to the child. So, if a dragon's last name were Caelum, that would say that the dragon had a magic that was similar to sky magic.

"It's only right if you introduce yourself first Hotshot." She spat back, straightening herself slightly. He grinned at the response, it wasn't like telling her was a bad thing, he was from a extremely powerful line of dragons after all.

"Natsu Dragneel Flamma-Dei, the hellfire dragon. But i go by my first or middle name." Her eyes widened as she recognized his name.

"Y-you're the son of Igneel the flame god dragon?!" Her reaction was hilarious to him, and the laugh he restrained turned into a snort.

"Yea, i am. Now who are you?"

"Lucy Heartfilia Deus-Chao, the eclipse dragon..." that was his cue to freeze. This female- Lucy, was the daughter of the chaos god dragon? She seemed so different from her father, yet so similar. The tribal markings on her legs were nearly identical to what he'd heard her father's looked like.

"Damn, who would've thought I'd meet a element god's kid outside of Tenrou..." he muttered. The urge to dominate the eclipse dragon infront of him grew stronger, and he wasn't one to go against his urges.

"You may want to beat me and be some possible mate, but i want to beat you and find my friends." She sounded tired, and he gave her another look over. He could see her ribs and her body seemed too bony to be healthy. No doubt about it, she hadn't eaten properly in a long time. Natsu could probably just nudge her and she'd fall over.

Deciding to keep it short, he darted forwards, barreling into her flank to knock her down. She grunted as she toppled over, using her momentum to roll to her feet, lashing out with a fury he hadn't seen in any dragon for a while. He ducked under the attack, getting underneath her and springing up. His back pushed against her soft underside, sending her up into the air then crashing to the ground, mouth open wide as she gasped for air, body curling in on itself.

Natsu felt a pang of worry go through him when she didn't move to stand or shift into a more comfortable position. That worry dissipated when she spat a ball of darkness and sunlight at him, missing his face by a few inches. The air it had cut through was hot and cold.

He growled and slithered over to her, placing a foot on her shoulder and thigh, pinning her to the ground. His neck craned downward, jaw opened and around her neck. If he wanted to, he could kill her where she lay.

She was still, Natsu could feel her muscles tensing and relaxing under him, her eyes looking around desperately for something, probably a travelling companion. He raised his head so that he could speak without his teeth puncturing her scales.

"Looks like i win Luce. What's my prize?"

* * *

Erza didn't like the current situation at all. Lucy was MIA, probably fighting with a male, Juvia had turned into water and hid in the stream, Mira was bouncing with energy, ready and eager to get in a fight. Lisanna was trying to keep everyone from running off in different locations along side the blood dragon. What worried her most concerning her dark scaled friend was that she hadn't eaten properly in months.

"Lisanna, I'm going to go find Lucy. When Mira calms herself, get her to continue taking us to Tenrou." She ordered. The white and black dragoness nodded and gave a reassuring smile.

"Alright Erza, _try_ to bring Lucy back in one piece! Maybe you'll find her fighting with a male... oh i hope he's handsome." The junior matchmaker of their ragtag group cooed. If you had enough of an imagination, you could see pink hearts replace her pupils.

"If _he_ finds out that his daughter has a candidate for a mate, he will be the most possessive father at Tenrou, and usually Gildarts holds that title. I personally, will see to it that whomever she chooses is _worthy_ as well." The words were heavy with an unspoken threat, and the dark dragon shivered.

 _'Scary... she's worse than Mira...'_

Erza stalked off, following her friend's unique scent of roses and almonds. It was heavy in the air, along with three foreign scents. Caramel and spice, morning dew and copper, as well as sugar and salt. The final scent made her mouth water, embarrassingly enough. It didn't take long to find the eclipse dragon, and the blood dragon was beyond surprised.

Lucy was pinned beneath a young and powerful looking dragon. His red scales reminded her of fire, and it didn't take genius to see he had some brand of fire magic. She stayed hidden in the bushes, trying to listen in as she watched their quiet conversation. Lucy seemed abit uncomfortable with someone being on top of her, not used to being beat by anyone except Erza or Mira.

 _'Well, it has been a while since she's dealt with anyone other than us...'_

"Could you get _off_?" Erza chuckled at her spitfire friend. No way she'd just sit there without snapping for much longer. She was so focused on the two that she didn't notice the rustling bushes behind her, or the approaching presence.

"That would be Natsu Dragneel Flamma-Dei. I'm guessing the female's a friend of yours?"

She spun with wide eyes, focusing on the gray scaled male that stood before her. He was, to say the least, handsome, and the blood dragoness found herself captivated by his warm and mature hazel eyes, the way they danced with curiosity mesmerizing. Too surprised by his sudden appearance, she gave a small nod. Erza Belserion did _not_ get flustered over any male, she got down to business and showed him who was boss, but this male made her stop and try to get herself back together.

"What's your name, I'm Jellal Fernandez Angelus, the fallen angel dragon."

"E-e-Erza B-Belserion Vi-vi-vindicta..." she managed to get the words out. If she was in her human form, she'd be as red as her scales. _(Yes dragons have human forms... I'm weird deal with it)_ Jellal gave her a smile that made her want to turn into a puddle of overloaded emotions.

"That's a beautiful name, it fits you well... Your friend, she was anxious to fight me and my companions off, should i expect the same from you?"

 **(A/N: and there you have it! You guys voted for Hunting in the poles, with 17 votes to the second place, War Between Worlds, 9 votes. Hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter! I'll update as soon as i can! Don't forget to leave a review, every one counts!**

 **Okay? Okay.**

 **Bye)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hunting: Chapter two**

* * *

Erza shivered under the male's gaze, pulling her wings back, straightening herself and raising her chin. She didn't want to come across as some weak little female that was better off trailing some big strong male.

The gray scaled dragon smirked at her, dropping his head then raising it again, his mahogany eyes flashing to a dark golden colour.

"I suggest that we take this elsewhere, I am not keen on being interrupted by one or both of our pods..." he moves so fast that she can't even react before he has her wrapped up in his talons, flying her off to a more remote part of the forest. She dropped her jaw to let out a roar, but a warning glare from him had her snapping her mouth shut. Her eyes caught sight of a second set of wings, folded tight against him but shaking, the feathers charred and frozen at the same time.

He stood up against one of Lucy's roars, that would be a miracle on its own, something told her she wasn't going to get away from him, even if she won.

And, scary enough to say, she was okay with that...

* * *

Levy bristled as she watched her spitfire nest mate get taken out so easily. She knew that Lucy hadn't fed herself properly in a long time, but for her to be dominated so quickly was a big shocker. The male seemed to be extremely powerful, and he stood and looked like an alpha dragon. They were locked in conversation, and Levy didn't know how to act. The look in Lucy's eyes told her that the dragoness wasn't really all that against this male placing a claim on her.

She was about to go and confront them when something wrapped around her waist, biting into her scales as it dragged her backwards. Levy snarled and whirled to face her attacker, swiping out with her serrated claws before even seeing their face. Her sharp talons sliced through scales that felt harder than normal, and she got a good look at her attacker.

He was gigantic! Sure, she was a runty thirty feet, but this male towered over her, probably fifty feet tall when he stood straight. His ruby coloured eyes froze her in her tracks, her two tipped tail swinging behind her with apprehension. His right shoulder was bleeding where her talons sliced through iron scales.

His wings shifted and she let out a snarl, crouching in a defensive position on instinct. He snarled right back, looming over her and talons biting into the ground, ripping it up beneath him.

They glared at each other, neither willing to move first. It seemed like hours, Levy succumbing to the urge to give her maybe opponent a look over.

With a broad torso, wide wings, and a thick, muscular tail, he was everything a warrior class dragon would dream of. His scales seemed to made of iron, shining in the gloom of the forest they stood in. The horns on his head were a deep black, as were his curiously long talons. His tail had metal blades along the top, ending in a mace shaped ball.

Her eyes drifted back to his, only to find that they were on her own body. She narrowed her eyes and slammed her tails into the ground, drawing his attention back to her.

"Looks like the pipsqueak's got bite." He sneered, ruby eyes taunting her. Before he could realize it, she lurched forwards, claws slashing through his flank and drawing blood. He grunted at the pain, then snapped a wing out, the limb sending her flying a few feet. He was on top of her in an instant, trying to pin her, only to roll out of the way of the way of a dragon roar that seemed to manifest in the form of chunks of clay.

He glanced back at the tree that received the brunt of the attack, and his eyes widened. Where the clay touched, steam filled the air and the wood was eaten away. It would've killed anything it came in contact with.

Still distracted, he gave a shout when her talons slashed at him, catching his neck, then her back legs were under his belly, heaving with all of her strength and sending him rolling onto his side.

"You fight better than your friend did against the flame brain." He pulled himself to his feet, then rammed his shoulder into her before she could react, driving her back until she faltered. His talons wrapped around her throat and pinned her to the ground.

She tried to snap at his arm, and soon gave up when he pressed her further into the ground.

"Looks like I win, _Shrimp_." She growled at him, but let her head fall slack, cheek hitting the ground. It was an unspoken rule among her group that even if they were beat by a male, they would never whimper, it was a sign of weakness.

He pressed her further into the earth, wanting to hear her submission.

"Fuck off."

* * *

Mira and Lisanna sat side by side, waiting for Juvia to collect herself and go back into her physical form. When Lucy had first gone off to take on the males, Juvia had been so startled that she'd turned to water and gotten broken up in the swift currents of the stream. They had to wait for the rest of her to get back.

It was kind of odd, but what could one do?

"Mira, do you think that Lucy, Levy and Erza are alright?" The black spotted darkness dragon looked at her big sister, worry evident in her crystal blue eyes.

"Erza's my blood partner, she's strong enough to beat down a few males. Levy's feisty and smart, it's Lucy I'm worried about. She's the daughter of Acnologia and all, and she's powerful, but she's malnourished. Levy and Erza will take care of her if they have to, but she'll fight with her last breath if she thinks it's necessary." The elder dragoness responded, wrapping a pure white wing around her sister.

Lucy hadn't been eating properly in three months when food began to go scarce because of the chill of fall that warned of winter. She'd always say she wasn't very hungry when they brought in a catch, and she'd give her rations out to all of them. Lucy had her mother's heart, taking care of others before thinking about herself.

Honestly, if she didn't starve herself, none of them would be strong enough to fight off a male dragon, so, in a way, she did help.

"Juvia is ready to go."

Both siblings turned to see the water dragoness watching them with cheery, sea blue eyes. Her deep blue scales almost seemed to ripple like water, and her tail, which she used as a rudder when swimming, was curled around her feet delicately. No wings sat on her back.

"C'mon, Erza will get Lucy and Levy to Tenrou, but we can't sit here and let ourselves get attacked. Juvia and I are old enough that we're more at risk than you are 'Sanna." The youngest dragoness nodded as the trio broke out into a run, weaving through the trees and thick brush.

They weren't even that far when they were stopped. The dragon that stood in their path was two heads taller than Mira, and three taller than Juvia and Lisanna. He gave a feral grin, storm blue eyes narrowing as he took a step towards them, his golden scales glinting in the light.

"Lookie here, two dragons and a fledgling abandoning their friends." Mira growled dangerously, flaring out her wings. Her scales darkened, quickly turning from white to a black. The scales over her heart turned a fierce, bright red. While she was fully prepared to fight, she wouldn't if she didn't have to. Juvia and Lisanna stayed behind her as she and the male circled each other.

The moment that her back was facing the direction they were heading, she stopped moving, lowering her voice so that only her sister and friend could hear her next words.

"Run." She spat a ball of pulsing darkness that almost looked alive, the attack slamming into the dragon before he could even blink. Mira turned, seeing that the dark and water dragons had already taken off, and followed after them, running fast enough that the world was a blur around her. The three moved relatively silently, although the sound of beating wings was abit unsettling.

It didn't take long before a strike of lightning and a wall of ice just a few inches ahead of them had them stopping and turning around. The golden scaled dragon glowered at them, lips twisted in a snarl, and an ice blue dragon landed beside him, eyes focused on Juvia.

"Lisanna, we'll be fine, keep going, if another one comes after you, don't even stop." Mira growled as she and Juvia got low, ready to attack or defend. The ice dragon was the first to move, swinging his tail and sending spikes of ice between them, the pair jumping apart on instinct. The males separated as well, the lightning dragon going to Mira, and the ice to Juvia.

Mira wouldn't say she was the most cunning or the most agile of fighters, those titles fell on Lucy and Levy, but she was a force to be reckoned with. She sprung forwards, talons slashing at the male and narrowly missing his throat. His forehead slammed against hers with an audible crack, and she hissed her pain as she shook her head, putting distance between them.

He grinned mockingly at her, long golden tail lashing behind him.

"Darkheart dragons are supposed to be the first borns of a darkness dragon nest right? You seem like some normal darkness dragon, no wonder you ran, weakling!" Deep down, she knew he was riling her up, wanting to see her at her best, that it was a taunt, but she completely ignored that tiny voice screaming in her head.

Mira charged him with an enraged roar, her head sliding under his chest, heaving him up onto his back legs. She followed, rearing up and unleashing a flurry of swipes he struggled to block before he caught her, grappling against each other, jaws snapping as they tried to force each other to the ground.

She had to pump her wings to stay upright, and missed his tail snaking around to knock her feet out from under her. The darkheart dragoness fell with a surprised cry, talons finding the lightning dragon's biceps and pulling him down, where she forced them into a roll. He surged up when she caught him beneath her, throwing her high into the air with a roar.

The blue eyed dragon barely stayed on her feet as she hit the ground, dodging to the side when a bolt of lightning sped towards her. The second she was stable on her feet, she leapt into the air, spitting a ball of darkness then lunging towards him after it. The attack hit him dead on, sending him skidding backwards, talon's digging deep grooves into the earthen floor.

She slammed into him right after with a roar of defiance, driving her shoulder into his chest. The audible crack of his sternum would've made her cringe if she were on the sidelines. The lightning eater screeched his pain, falling in a wheezing heap. His stormy blue eyes glared up at her, but he didn't attempt to move, letting his head drop in submission.

Mira grinned triumphantly, tilting her head back and letting out a loud, long roar. Another roar joined hers, which she recognized as her favourite red scaled dragoness'. Her lips twisted in a grin as she looked over at Juvia, eyes widening at the image of the water dragon pinned beneath the ice dragon, not even fighting against his hold.

"You gonna kill me Darkheart?" She looked back down at the lightning dragon, narrowing her shockingly blue eyes at his teasing tone. In the blink of an eye she was pinning him to the ground by the neck, giving a push that forced him further down and had his quiet wheezing grow louder.

"Don't think I won't Sparks."

* * *

Jellal's head was low as he trailed behind the blood dragon, feeling rather hurt but satisfied.

She'd beaten him, barely, but for some reason decided to keep him around, claiming that he was a worthy adversary as she dragged him towards the shrouded clearing he and Laxus had first found her pod in. He was greeted by Natsu, who was trying to approach the dark scaled dragoness from before, the female getting up and creating more space in between them whenever Natsu got too close.

It was rather amusing, although he did feel bad for the hellfire dragon.

Erza chuckled when her friend growled at Natsu, eyes bright with amusement when he flopped over, letting out a string of whines that had the female groaning.

"Doesn't seem like she's too fond of him." Jellal quipped as Erza led him towards the fire pit he'd first spotted her at.

"Lucy doesn't like to lose, her father raised her to be relatively independent. I'm surprised that your friend was even able to beat her." She waited for him to sit, watching him warily. Just because he lost didn't mean he wouldn't try to fight her again.

The fallen angel dragon ruffled his wings, cringing at the painful ache in his battered and broken second set of wings.

"I was wondering... who is her father? She seems powerful." He questioned. The blood dragoness cast him a look, not sure whether or not to answer. After a moment she opened her mouth to speak.

"She's the sole surviving youngling of Layla and Acnologia." the male frowned, remembering the stories that he'd heard about the children of Acnologia. Noticing the uneasy look on Erza's face, he decided to drop the topic.

"So, tell me about yourself, I'd like to know about who I've lost to." His tail curled around his front talons, the fan of feathers on his tail tip spreading wide.

Erza visibly flinched at the question and he frowned mentally. Was this female unable to answer anything?

"Well, you already know my name... My mother was killed a few hours after i hatched by hunters, and I was raised by my aunt. My father was wretched scum, impregnated my mother then ran for the hills when he heard about me..." she hissed out, sitting down while her wings and tail twitched aggressively. He frowned at the image, understanding her pain and undoubtedly her anger.

Dragons put their whole heart and soul into a relationship, only going as far as to mate when they knew that they and their partner were completely committed to each other. Even then, the pair still would be a bit hesitant for a while.

To simply abandon your mate, let alone your pregnant mate, was something so insane to think about that if he didn't believe Erza, he would have laughed and called her a liar.

He dropped his jaw to respond, only to pause when his friend suddenly rolled between them, squealing about how Lucy was going to freeze his tail off while the eclipse dragon followed after him. It was easy to tell how undernourished she was, and a quick glance in Erza's direction told him that she knew as well, judging by the worried look in her eyes.

Thumping his tail on the ground to draw her attention back to him, he hoisted himself to his feet, gesturing for her to follow him as they left the pair to do whatever they were doing. When they were far enough away that they couldn't hear the two, they settled back down, easily falling into a relaxed conversation.

Neither noticed their travelling companions returning, or the sky darkening to black with only the stars and moon to light the forest.

* * *

Lisanna found herself walking further in front of her sister and Juvia than normal, although it was expected. The ice dragon that had beaten Juvia was pinned to her flank almost, while the brooding and giant lightning dragon that Mira had beat walked behind them, looking ready to jump and kill the lot of them, which was probably why she headed the small group.

A sudden shrill cry had them all freezing before the ice dragon groaned, shaking his head with a grimace.

"The fuck is _wrong_ with that Flamebrain?!" He glanced back at his friend, who shrugged heavy shoulders. The ice dragon huffed then sped up to a run, leaving everyone behind, going to make sure nothing happened.

Lisanna watched for a moment before bolting after him, ignoring her sister's worried calls for her to come back. She stayed a few tail lengths behind as he crashed into the camp, head swivelling to lock on the male dragon that was sitting in the stream, pouting up at Lucy, who looked ready to both rip someone's throat out, and fall asleep on her feet.

She barely noticed Erza speaking with a grey coloured dragon near the campfire.

The ice dragon huffed, trudging over to the pair and whacking the fire dragon upside the head. The darkness dragon rolled her eyes, scampering to Lucy's side when she heard her sister yell her name.

"You gotta hide me Lu, big sis is gonna kill me!" She squealed. The eclipse dragon giggled, glancing over the younger dragon's shoulder before pointing to some dense looking bushes.

"Stay there while I reason with her, if I don't come back, hit him, _really hard._ " She nodded her head in the fire dragon's direction, groaning when she realized that he and the ice dragon were wrestling like hatchlings. Lisanna gave her an apologetic look, about to dart off when something pressed down on her tail, holding her in place. She could feel her elder sister's gaze burning her head, and she let out a nervous laugh.

"Mira... I'm so sorry sis! N-no, stop!" She squealed as she was dragged into the river tail first, eyes pleading for help from anyone. Lucy didn't allow eye contact, turning her attention to Juvia, who did the same. Traitors, the lot of them. The males seemed unsure of what to do, eyes going anywhere but her direction.

An hour later, after Lisanna's punishment, everyone, sans Erza and the unknown dragon, they'd gathered in a circle and shared names. Levy and a male named Gajeel had come to join them not long ago, and Lisanna was working to remember all of the new names.

The ice dragon who had Juvia stuck to his side was Gray, and seemed to have a slight distaste to how clingy she was. It was honestly amusing to watch them.

Laxus, the brooding lightning dragon that had lost to her sister, was pacing the river, low growls and chuffs coming from him as his eyes stayed trained on the ground, oftentimes darting to Mira when she wasn't looking. Judging by the smug look on the darkheart dragon's face, Lisanna guessed that Mira was aware of it.

Natsu was the hellfire dragon who was pressed lightly against Lucy, who looked too sleepy to object, simply leaning on him. He didn't seem bad, much more lively than the others in his pod. He also seemed worried for Lucy, and Mira had eventually told him that she was a mainly nocturnal dragon, and that she'd be better when the sun finally set.

Gajeel seemed to be the most prickly of the four, as well as completely anti-social. Levy didn't appear to like him much, if at all, if judging by how her serrated talons dug viciously into the ground every few seconds, her eyes never even glancing at the hulking iron dragon.

Lisanna honestly felt bad for him.

It wasn't long before she'd fallen against Mira's side, blanketed by her big sister's pure white wing, as the sky bled orange and pink.

It was oddly peaceful in their little group, and she couldn't help but feel that the new dragons filled in a gap that she hadn't seen.

 **(Finally, after what feels like centuries, I've updated! I don't have much to say... okay, guys, when you review, comment the ship you want me to focus on in the next chapter, i'll take the most wanted!**

 **see ya later{hopefully soon})**


	3. Chapter 3

Hunting: Chapter Three

* * *

Mira let out a sigh as she watched her friends, and the males, lie down, lips twisting in a small grin at the sight of the ice dragon, was his name Gray, that had curled around Juvia, the water dragon draping over him.

Lucy was barely awake, lying on her belly, wings spread as she absorbed energy from the night sky. Natsu watched the dragoness out of the corner of his eye, sitting beside Gajeel, quiet whispers shared between them. She only caught specific words such as 'Tenrou', 'Empress', and 'Parents', the fear that the last word held for both males making her grin.

Levy's mother and father were terribly protective of their youngest, and had a habit of forcibly taking up their daughters time whenever they could. Acnologia, however was a totally different story. Most likely, he would put himself in the middle of Natsu and Lucy, deny any contact between the two, and eventually, challenge the hellfire dragon.

She wasn't sure on what the male dragons' parents would do, but that was definitely out of her control.

Her bright blue eyes drifted to her sister, curled against her side in a deep sleep. Carefully pulling her wing back to her side, she stood up, trying not to jostle the smaller dragoness. Turning away from the group, she padded silently towards the trees, finding a particularly dark area.

She had an aversion to light, it reflected too harshly against her scales, made her feel as if she were pure, a creature that one could marvel at. She hated it. There was too much blood on her hands, too much sorrow, for her to be 'pure'.

Curling up in a tight ball, she buried her head in her paws, trying to block out the world, the voices crying out from the pain she caused. Tears pricked at her eyes, but she tried to keep them back. She didn't deserve to cry.

"Mira-Jane?" She recognized his voice immediately, head snapping up and towards the lightning dragon. There was worry in his eyes, and she felt her stomach twist with self-loathing and guilt. Why did he care, she was a monster.

He approached cautiously, as if he were backing a wild creature into a corner.

"Leave me be..." the dragoness' voice held no strength, something she berated herself for, a whimper in her voice instead. She dared not to show her face, looking anywhere but in the lightning dragon's direction. Mira jumped slightly when he laid a talon on her shoulder, a small, comforting gesture.

"I'm here if you need me..." he sounded so different from when they'd first met, the sneer in his voice gone, replaced by something close to a purr. She refused to look at him, wanting to chase his warmth when he removed himself from her side. Mira laid her head on her paws again, letting her eyes slip closed, wondering if was a good idea to trust Laxus to keep her safe as she slept.

* * *

Lucy hummed as she rolled her shoulders, pulling her wings against her sides. Energy thrummed in her veins, and she itched to move.

Climbing to her feet, her gaze swept over her friends and the males. It was still relatively dark, so they were mostly asleep. Mira and Laxus were no where to be seen, but they were both capable dragons, so she didn't worry. Natsu was the only one awake, his focus on the fire that the group surrounded. Quietly, as to not alert the fire dragon, she slunk to the edge of the group, withholding a giggle at the sight of Erza, rolled on her back, looking more like a happy puppy than a fierce dragoness.

"Where ya goin?"The voice behind her spoke up, making her jump, startled. Natsu grinned at her, eyes bright. He didn't look even a bit tired, and she bet that he hadn't had a wink of sleep, so she didn't understand why he seemed so energetic.

"Not sure, I'm not keen on sitting around until everyone's up..." she turned away from him, bright amber eyes looking around the clearing once. Lucy barely withheld a shiver as Natsu stepped up beside her, their sides brushing gently. She could feel his warmth seeping into her scales, even though it was for only the briefest of seconds.

"C'mon then, do you like cloud gliding?" Lucy waited for him to step far enough away that they could both get off the ground before nodding.

"Yea, I haven't done it in a while though, it's something me and my dad do." She hummed back, stretching out her feathered wings. Natsu seemed to copy her actions, and he gave her a fanged grin that had her smiling back. Her fan-like, feathered tail reaching around to smack lightly at his shoulder.

"You think he'll mind?" He questioned as they left the ground. His wings easily carried him up, and Lucy marveled at how graceful his movements were, flying as if he wasn't a warrior class dragon, but a speed class. She felt slightly jealous. As a fledgling, she'd grown up with wings far to large for her body, and a feather tail that neither of her parents knew how to teach her to use. She could fly much faster than any other dragon, but in a wind storm, or in any not average weather, she was practically a hatchling on their first flight. Shaking away her thoughts, she followed him as the climbed towards the clouds.

"He'll just have to deal with it, I'm not some defenseless hatchling." Lucy huffed out. By then, they were already halfway through the clouds, and she see the male's blurry shape through the clouds, his red scales standing out against the sea of white. The laugh he gave at her words had her feeling oddly warm on the inside, and she tried to shake off the feeling, suddenly remembering why exactly the male was hanging around her.

When they finally got to Tenrou, maybe she'd 'introduce' Natsu to her father.

They were up there for a while, conversation light with Natsu sometimes doing aerial tricks that had Lucy gawking in surprise. Currently the one that seemed to be the hardest was five vertical figure eights in a row. She didn't understand how he wasn't wobbling from dizziness.

"My dad and I used to do tricks for my mom. She couldn't fly too well, so she liked to watch us." He supplied, catching on to her curiosity.

"Will they be at Tenrou?" Lucy rose slightly before diving to disappear in the clouds, coming back up a second later, water forming on her body. Natsu shrugged, spiraling then leveling out as close as he could get to her.

"Yea, my mom lives there now. My dad comes and goes though, ever since my brother left for the northern continent." He looked ready to say something else when a loud roar that sounded like metal screeching against itself filled the air." Fucking Ironbreath... c'mon, they probably want to leave."

She didn't wait for him, tipping into a dive, wings pulled tight to her sides. The wind whipped across her face, and she glanced over her shoulder at Natsu when the space behind her heated. The hellfire dragon had flames surrounding him, giving her a playful grin. She would probably regret doing this later, ignoring the faint warning in the back of her head.

Wings snapping out, fully spread, she let it halt her fall, snickering at Natsu's surprised face as he copied the action not too far below her. Lucy made the 'come get me' gesture with her talons, then threw herself into a thicker patch of clouds that completely hid her. She couldn't see his bold coloured scales through the clouds, but she could hear his wingbeats, making sure that there was always enough space between them.

Just as she was about to dive and leave Natsu in the clouds, a piercing cry full of pain left her frozen in midair.

"Lucy!" The hellfire dragon burst out of the clouds just a bit to her left, eyes wide with worry until they landed on her." You're alright... who was that then?" She startled slightly when his talons hovered close enough to caress her cheeks, but didn't back away, at least until another cry filled the air, this one familiar to the eclipse dragon.

"Lisanna..." she choked out. Natsu gave her one glance before backing away, turning so he could dive, hurtling to the ground. Their friends were separated, Erza, Gajeel, Jellal, Gray, and Juvia to their left, the others to their right. At this distance, they could hear the cries of scavengers, as well as the loud clicking of their more advanced weapons, able to ground a dragon.

"Roll right!" Natsu yelled as he rolled the opposite direction, a huge wooden projectile cutting through the space he just occupied. She barely got out of its way, then broke away from him, shooting towards everyone with Mira.

The dark heart dragon was standing over her sister, silver blood pooling around the fledgling dragon's body. Levy and Laxus were trying to sweep through the scavengers, but there didn't seem to be an end to them. Gliding over once, Lucy let out a roar that sounded quite similar to shattering glass, spitting out a funnel of her magic, letting it tear through the scavengers. Levy roared right after, leaping into the air to intercept a giant spear that would've fallen onto Mira or Lisanna. She didn't even hesitate to send it right back, a laugh coming from her when it struck one of the spear launchers they were setting up.

Lucy touched down by Laxus' flank, snarling at a smaller group trying to get the lightning dragon's side, then sweeping them away with a flick of her tail.

"Thanks, we were headed out when they attacked. They went after Lisanna first." Was all he said, not able to spare her more than a glance. She snaked around his side to Levy, who was batting away scavengers with both tails and her wings, Lucy barely avoiding a stray wing that could've taken her eye. Behind them, Mira let out a roar full of rage that had the whole battlefield stopping for a moment.

"Shit, they're dead..." the two dragoness' laughed as the dark heart dragon moved from her sister, stalking closer, eyes trained on the scavengers. The three dragons watched with amusement when the angry female spat a wave of darkness, its range too large for anyone to escape. When it died down, all that was left were little patches of black grass, the terrain not changed at all, and the scavengers turned into nothingness. Laxus gave a quiet sound of surprise, eyes going to the eclipse and living clay dragons.

They both shrugged, completely used to Mira's... effective way of dealing with those who crossed her.

"I'm gonna go see if the others need any help." Lucy had already turned, setting into a fast run to where she'd seen Erza and the others. Catching a glimpse of a bright blue colour, she sped up, nearly barreling into Gray. The male gave her surprised look, then without warning, wrapped a wing over her back, forcing her to the ground. A warning growl barely made it past her lips before a giant wooden spear cut through the air over their heads.

"Thanks." He gave a slight nod back, pulling his wing back to his side, looking suddenly very bored. It was confusing, as he hadn't even looked at the spear launcher that was aimed at them. Glancing at the scavenger made weapon, she rolled her eyes at the sight of Natsu, methodically pulling it apart as it was consumed by flames, dropping pieces on any nearby scavengers. "He does that all the time, looks like a fucking hatchling."

Lucy let out a huff and let her lips quirk up. It seemed that he had a curiosity that wasn't too common among dragons. Almost sensing her gaze, Natsu dropped the scraps of wood, turning to grin at her, padding over a moment later. His eyes fell on her body, looking for any signs of injury, a satisfied look in his eyes when he found none.

"How are the others?" she started back towards Mira, Natsu following just a step behind.

"Lisanna got hurt really bad…" Lucy muttered, eyes widening when she saw Mira gently nuzzling her baby sister. Lisanna was still down, but she was awake, and looked to be in a lot of pain. The spear that had impaled her was just behind her foreleg on her left side, and Lucy was glad that dragon bones were practically invincible, or else that spear would have shattered her ribs and gotten to her heart.

"we can't remove the spear, and she needs a healer…" Levy approached them from the side, and Lucy knocked their heads together lightly.

"Someone has to take her ahead to Tenrou. There's a sky empress there. She can heal her." Mira whimpered the words, unable to bring her eyes from her sister. Laxus came up behind her and pressed against her side lightly.

"Who's the fastest flyer out of your pod?" He directed the question towards Levy, who almost immediately nodded towards the eclipse dragoness, who nodded when the lightning dragon gave her a questioning look. "ok, Lucy take Lisanna ahead of us. You can't stop, no matter what… alright."

By now, the rest of the group had come over, and Erza gave Lucy a worried look. If something happened along the way, Lucy wouldn't be able to properly defend herself.

"I'll go with her." Eyes turned to Natsu, the females looking relieved while the males rolled their eyes. He bristled at that, eyes narrowing slightly. "Hey, I'm the best flyer in our pod, she'll be safe with me."

Lucy gave a small smile at that, bumping her hip against his in thanks. Mira finally lifted her eyes from her sister, and the eclipse dragoness felt her resolve strengthen at the sight of tears.

"help her…"

* * *

It was the second day since they'd left the group behind.

Lucy still held Lisanna to her, thankful that fledgling dragons were noticeably smaller and lighter than adults. She and Natsu were able to travel at an astonishing speed, they had undoubtedly cut the three-and-a-half-day trip down by a full day.

Her wings burned with each push, and she had no doubt that Natsu's burned, at least a bit, too.

They had yet to reach the ocean, but she could smell it, and so could Natsu. He tried to entertain her whenever he could, but she could see the worry in his eyes. They hadn't stopped once since they'd left the group, keeping high above the clouds to avoid stronger winds. A few times, when Lisanna had woken, they'd drop below the clouds to let her get more air into her lungs and to see where they were.

"So, any pointers for when I meet your old man?" he asked as they slowly descended. She shrugged, turning her head to face him.

"Don't be cocky, rude or arrogant. He's really protective, so don't mention anything that might set him off… oh yeah, keep your dad away from him, Papa really doesn't like him." She laughed at the last part, and he responded in kind. They finally got below the clouds, and Lucy let out a little cheer when all she saw was the vast blue ocean beneath them. Natsu laughed and dropped into a dive, Lucy watching as he splashed into the water. He stayed under, using his wings to swim, a bright red spot against the blue. He reemerged a few minutes later in a spray of water, and Lucy found herself laughing at the sight. Natsu was so out of his element, yet he looked so at home.

Eventually, he took Lisanna from her so that she could go take a dip as well, and she couldn't help but try to go as deep as possible. The world beneath the surface was beautiful, fish of every colour swam around. Sharks and dolphins approached her, attracted by the shine of the warped sunlight against her scales. Below her, she didn't see the flash of light gray until something buffed her from the side, launching up above the surface before crashing down on her. Sharp teeth tried to clamp on her neck, but with a growl, she managed to get it off her.

Lucy raced to the surface, lifting herself into the air and ascending as fast as possible. Natsu was coming towards her, worry evident on his face, and she was distracted enough that the leviathan that attacked her before could breach the surface again, sharp teeth clamping onto her tail and pulling, a roar of pain ripping from her throat. She couldn't hear Natsu tell her to hang on.

Agony ripped through her spine as it shredded anything it got its teeth on, and she found herself losing altitude, unable to keep herself up without her tail. A fireball slammed into the monster's side and it released her, but that didn't help her too much. She was able to raise herself to a safe height, barely, and was met by Natsu, who almost immediately nuzzled her cheek before dropping low enough to survey the damage. A sound of dismay came from him when he got a good look. Blood dripped steadily into the ocean, and a good amount of her feathers were missing. She was lucky that she could even use the limb.

"We have to get you to Tenrou Luce… You're not going to be able to fly for long with that…" his voice held a small whine to it, and he nuzzled her again, for longer this time.

"then lets go."

* * *

They managed to go at a decent pace for another hour, having to slow down at times when Lucy dropped out of his slipstream, unable to keep herself level.

By now, they could see the shores of Tenrou, as well as a few dragons flying

Towards the massive island. But now Lucy could barely keep herself up, and they'd dropped to be a few hundred feet in the air instead of higher.

"Luce, we're almost there, just hang in there…" He glanced over his shoulder at the female, worry beginning to constrict his chest. She kept saying she was fine, but her eyes could barely stay open, and her wings could barely work in time with each other. If she fell now, he wouldn't be able to help her, she made him promise earlier that he make Lisanna priority. The fact that she was thin enough that he could almost see her ribs wasn't reassuring at all.

It happened when they were a good five miles out.

She made a weak noise of distress when her right wing locked up, and he turned just as she started to fall, unable to slow her descent at all. Panic swelled in his chest as he followed her, letting out an ear shattering roar for help. Hopefully someone would hear him, because he didn't know what the hell to do. Lucy hit the choppy water with a huge splash, a sound of pain escaping her when she hit.

Throwing caution to the wind, he dove in right after her, placing Lisanna on his back while he dragged her body to his, wrapping a wing around her to hold her above the waves, getting her head to rest on his neck to keep her from swallowing any more water. She shivered against him and he let his body heat up.

"just a little bit longer Luce, help's coming…" his eyes scanned the sky, and relief filled him when he caught sight of four dragons heading in their general direction. Letting out another roar accompanied by a plume of flame, relief filled him when one of them roared back, and they all turned to them.

He pressed his cheek against Lucy's when she lifted her head slightly, body trembling at the movement. Natsu finally got a good look at the incoming dragons when they were practically on top of them, dread settling in his stomach.

He didn't recognize the two smaller dragons, but he recognized the other two. His father's face was twisted in a sardonic smile, and Natsu nodded at the flame god dragon.

The final dragon loomed over him, scales black as night with his tribal tattoos bright against them.

Acnologia, the chaos god dragon, one of the three strongest dragons alive, bared down on him with a glare full of anger and confusion.

"What are you doing with _my hatchling_?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Hunting chapter 4**

* * *

The two dragons that he didn't recognize gently plucked Lisanna from his back, the black one mumbling something to his white scaled partner before they took off, presumably towards the healer.

Acnologia was still glaring at him as he carefully took Lucy from the hellfire dragon's hold, picking up her exhausted body and holding her carefully to his chest.

"I'll deal with you later." He winged away after that, and Natsu let out a long sigh, finally lifting himself from the ocean water. Igneel waited for him to get fully into the air before he approached his son. They smiled as they grabbed the other's forearm and shook.

"It's been a long-time son." Natsu grinned at that, knocking his father in the chin gently.

"hope you didn't forget me, old man." They'd started towards Tenrou, Natsu drifting into his father's slipstream.

"how could I forget you, I was always worrying that I'd never get grand hatchlings!" he laughed at the end of his sentence, giving his son a knowing look. "so, you had to go and claim Acno's kid huh… I ain't helping you with that but expect your mom to freak out. Zeref and his shenanigans is enough for this old dragon." Natsu snickered at that.

When he'd last talked to Zeref, he found out that the black dragon was essentially creating his own version of Tenrou.

"how's mom anyways?" he didn't see much of her, she couldn't cross the ocean anymore. Her wings were too small for fast or long flights, and she'd had to teach herself how to fly. When she was last at the mainland, she and Igneel had been attacked by a wyvern nest, and her left wing had been partially shredded.

"She's doing fine. She and the Empress are becoming great friends, and she's been helping to teach the hatchlings and fledglings how to do breath attacks. Raviena's youngest is causing her some trouble though." The growl in the flame god dragon's voice had Natsu slightly confused. Raviena had many hatchlings, but he'd only ever known them as angels. If one of them was doing something wrong, Natsu was gonna have a field day straightening them out.

Maybe that would impress a certain eclipse dragon?

* * *

Juvia watched her pod from the ocean as the headed towards Tenrou. She didn't have wings like the others, but in water, it didn't matter in the slightest.

She could see everyone joking around, save for Mira and Laxus, who headed the group, a quarter of a mile ahead. A particularly rough wave hit her in the side, and something slapped her cheek, curiosity having the sea dragon pausing slightly.

Her darling Gray seemed to notice, and he dropped to be as close as possible to her as she examined what hit her.

It was a large feather, fading from black to rose, and dread rose up in Juvia's chest.

"Isn't that… Lucy's?" he questioned, peering at it with slightly narrowed eyes. Juvia nodded and held it up for him to take.

"Give it to Erza-san for Juvia… We'll keep going, but Juvia needs to mark this location." He nodded and rose up to the blood dragoness. Erza looked at it, then Juvia, giving the blue scaled dragon a nod. She waited for the other to get a bit further ahead before she dove, going a few hundred feet under.

Spinning like a top, she opened her mouth towards the surface before letting out a roar accompanied by a wave of sea magic. A whirlpool formed, and the water gave off a few pulses of magic before the whirlpool properly settled.

Meanwhile, Gray hovered just above where he'd seen Juvia go under, waiting for the sea dragoness.

The only warning he got was a loud crack noise before the water swelled and formed a swirling funnel. It was wide enough that it could probably swallow ten dragons easily and drag them to the depths. A minute after its formation, Juvia reemerged, a satisfied grin on her face and she swam towards the group. He followed after her, gliding over the water when he got close as to not alert her to his presence. When he was nearly on top of her, he reached out, wrapping his arms under hers and pulling her from the water with a few powerful beats of his wings. She squealed and thrashed in his grip for a moment before realizing it was him, then she settled and looked up at him.

"why is Gray-sama carrying Juvia? Isn't Juvia heavy?" He scoffed at her words, and she looked up at him as they rose higher. The others will still a good distance away, moving much faster than before, enough so that he wouldn't be able to catch up and carry her at the same time.

"I've had to carry Natsu's fatass, compared to that, you're a feather." She went completely silent for a minute, and he thought she was doubting his words, at least until her nose brushed against the side of his neck, a purring noise coming from her.

Eventually, he did have to drop her. The others were extremely far ahead, and she'd started to complain about being held by her armpits. She hit the water with a small splash, despite how high she was, then did a little flip that had the ice dragon rolling his eyes with a grin.

From there, it took practically no time for them to reach Tenrou's shores, and as their talons touched the sandy shores, they could feel the island's vast magical power wash over them. Gray furled his wings closed and started further inland, waiting for Juvia to catch up. It didn't take long for them to reach Sanctuary, and he used a wing to clear the last of their path.

"it's good to be home."

* * *

Mira hit the ground running. Usually, she would go slowly, take in the beauty of Tenrou, but her stomach was twisting with fear for her sister. She shouldered past any dragon that got in her way, leaping over a group of hatchlings, the mother hissing at her, not that she noticed. She didn't care that she was making a scene, all that mattered was that her sister was okay.

She shoved a red scaled dragon aside as she burst into the healer's den. Eyes wide and searching, she felt tears dribbling from her eyes when she spotted the healer, a pale pink dragoness, leaned over a white dragoness with black spotted scales.

"Lisanna…" the healer's long, narrow head snapped around to stare at her, and the elder dragoness gave her a small smile, stepping away from the patient. Mira practically dove on her sister, nuzzling the young dragon's cheek, a happy purr building in her throat. Relief had her choking back tears, and she felt a wing wrap gently around her back.

"The island guard found her and two others half a day ago. If she had gotten here an hour later, she might not have made it. She's a lucky little brat." The dark heart dragoness turned to look at the healer, a thankful grin stretching her lips.

"T-thank you so much… I wouldn't be able to survive if she were gone… Where are Natsu and Lucy, the dragons that brought her here." The pale pink dragoness sighed and nodded her head to the side. Mira looked up, spotting a familiar dark red scaled tail, the rest of the dragon's body hidden by a curtain. Padding over, she gasped at the sight of Lucy, curled up like a hatchling, in one of the healing nests, Natsu leaning over her, concern evident on his face. They were speaking in low, hushed voices that Mira couldn't hear despite how close she was.

Lucy's entire body shook, and the ruffling of feathers drew Mira's attention to the dragoness' tail. Many of the feathers were missing, and bandages were wrapped firmly around the length of it, gold blood already staining them in some places.

"Out of my way." A deep, rough voice came from her right, and she looked up, eyes widening at the sight of Acnologia, although his focus was not on her. She took a step back, and he moved forwards, clamping his jaws around Natsu's long neck and pulling him away from Lucy and out the door. Natsu snapped and snarled the whole way, like any sane dragon would do, which only seemed to anger the chaos god dragon even more.

"That's probably not good… Hi Mira!" the eclipse dragoness had sat up, careful not to move her tail. Mira moved towards her pod mate, nuzzling the younger female's cheek affectionately. Lucy returned the gesture, and leaned back, still all bright smiles.

"Lucy, are you ok?! What happened?" That had Lucy grinning sheepishly, eyes falling to her paws.

"I went swimming, really deep, and I guess I got a leviathan's attention, because next thing I know, its coming at me. It caught me in the air and shredded up my tail real bad. I ended up passing out like, 2 minutes from shore." Mira nodded, lips quirking up in a grin.

"And is that why your father is trying to murder Natsu?"

"yeah, he, Natsu's dad, and two younger dragons found us…" an angry roar sounded outside, and Lucy cringed. "It's probably best if we stay in here, sounds like they're gonna start fighting."

* * *

Natsu had no plans of fighting his claimed mate's father, not now, not ever. Even if the elder dragon had and unreasonable amount of anger directed towards him.

It was very hard to keep himself restrained though, seeing as he was being dragged by his neck, like an errant hatchling. His body thrashed and he could hear other dragons muttering about what was going on.

Eventually, they reached the training fields, and the much larger dragon released him, shoving him away at the same time. Natsu moved into a low crouch, eyes sharpened on the chaos god dragon, ready to dart out of the way if he charged. Silver eyes glared down at him, and Acnologia gave a rumbling growl. Natsu could smell fear fill the air, and a glance behind him showed three hatchlings that seemed far too interesting in the brewing conflict.

"What are your intentions with my hatchling, fire spawn." The black scaled dragon snarled, taking a heavy step forwards. Natsu copied the movement, but still kept a decent amount of space between them, standing as tall as possible, keeping a tight leash on the flame burning in his core. "Do you not know how to speak?!" trying not to give an _'are you dumb'_ look, he met the elder dragon's glare.

"I will never have plans to cause her any harm." Acnologia huffed out a cloud of chaos magic, eyes narrowing even further.

"Why should I believe the spawn of Igneel?" now that ticked him off. His father was a dragon who would keep a promise, no matter what the cost of keeping it was. Natsu had vowed to followed in his father's footsteps, despite what others might say.

"I'd never break a promise, Acnologia, and I would never, _never_ , raise a single claw against Lucy." The chaos god dragon glared down at him, shifting so that his huge wings were folded neatly on his sides. He didn't speak for a long minute, and Natsu watched, expecting the elder dragon to lunge at him.

Acnologia huffed out a long breath of air, then spun, throwing the hellfire dragon a backwards glance.

"If you allow any harm to befall her, I'll skin you alive." The grumbled sentence had him pausing, a flood of relief washing over him, and he let his usual fanged grin twist his lips.

The elder dragon was already in the air when he'd unfolded his wings, and he was about to follow, when something brushed his ankle. Natsu paused, wings still open and ready for take off, and dipped his head.

With dark green hair tied in a long ponytail, small, pale green dragon's wings, and a long, winding tail, Raviena grinned up at him, blue eyes twinkling in the light. The sight of the dragoness had him remembering his days of play wrestling with his nestmates, the life dragoness and his mother watching with bright smiles. Despite her age of 1603 years, Raviena looked like she was only, at most, twice his age.

"Natsu, it's been too long!" the life dragoness cooed up at him, her smile contagious. She shifted her hands from where they sat on her stomach, and he noticed two things. One, her scent was no longer simply just the crisp scent of cool morning air, but a mix of that and something earthy. Two, her belly was heavy with children. He found himself wondering who fathered the infants growing within her.

She was, to be blunt, the hatchling mill of Tenrou. She couldn't have an actual mate, so she spent her time mating with anyone she could, her reasoning being that she loved bringing new life to the world. It was questionable, but he wouldn't judge the dragoness that had helped to raise him.

"Raviena!" his wings furled back to his sides, and he dragged his magic into his core, feeling his body shrink, bones changing shape, scales sinking into skin. It took a second or two for him to complete the shift, and, standing in his semi-human form, he wrapped arms around the heavily pregnant dragoness.

"It's good to see you Natsu. You've grown into a fine young drake! The females must be throwing themselves at you!" Her teasing tone had a light blush creeping up his cheeks, and he rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly. He wondered whether he should tell her about Lucy or not. She would hear of it eventually but would be upset that she hadn't heard earlier.

"Thanks for the compliment… I actually managed to find someone that peaked my interest recently." Her blue eyes widened with a childlike enthusiasm, and she grasped his hands between her own, bouncing like an energetic hatchling.

"Who is it?! I'd love to meet her! She must be beautiful and smart! Is she around your age? Is she short, tall, chubby, skinny? I can see her being tall, but not too tall…" she went off on her tangent, and he barely smothered his laughter. Raviena always got overly excited talking about things like love and mates, mostly because she'd never get to experience them.

"Slow down. Yes, she's smart and beautiful. She's a bit younger than me, maybe a decade or two…" suddenly, he remembered that he'd been dragged away from her, and still needed to speak to her. "Actually, I should be going back to her now, she was injured on the way here." Raviena made an odd cooing noise, no doubt upset at hearing of an injured dragon. She'd never been one for fighting, the blood making her sick.

"What are you doing talking to me then?! Go take care of…"

"Lucy." He supplied. The life dragoness nodded, beaming a bright smile.

"Go take care of Lucy. Maybe when she's better, the two of you could come help me and Cynthia train the young ones, get some practice in." she wagged her eyebrows and he laughed, used to her not so subtle hints.

"Alright then, we'll see you soon." He gave her a shoulder hug before turning in the direction of the infirmary. As he went back into his dragon form, he grinned, remembering what Acnologia had said. He may not have actually said it, but he'd approved Natsu's desire to court his daughter.

That had his spirits sailing high as he made his way back to Lucy.

* * *

Levy woke up in the most comfortable nest she'd been in for a while. Blinking her eyes open, she was greeted by the sight of her parents sleeping at the other end of the den in an adorable pile. Her mother's bright orange scales and the marbled gray scales of her father a familiar sight.

Memories of the previous day had her grinning. They'd reached Tenrou without any complications, and the group had immediately broken up. Erza and Jellal had disappeared into the darker parts of the forest, while Laxus followed Mira, stationing himself outside the infirmary almost like a guard. Juvia and Gray were pretty far behind, so she never found out where they went off to.

Gajeel, the dense brute, followed her like a lost puppy, and she eventually gave up trying to lose him. Once she'd gotten to her parent's den, her mother ushered her in, while her father made sure the steel dragon didn't try to get in.

Gajeel may have stood three heads taller than her father, but the stone dragon was not one to be underestimated.

Sitting up, she glanced out the front window of the den, snickering when she saw the huge dragon curled up on the grass to the side of the pathway, looking like a lonely puppy. She almost felt bad for him.

Almost.

"Levy, is that poor drake still there? Should I get him to leave?" her mother's sweet voice had her turning with a smile, the toxin dragoness' head turned towards her offspring. Levy shook her head, turning to look back at Gajeel.

"He'll leave eventually." She mumbled. There was shifting behind her, and a cool wing wrapped over her body, pulling her into a slightly warmer, much smaller, body.

"He reminds me of your father… he refused to be too far from me, even though my parents hated him… he was so devoted to becoming my mate that he ended up challenging my father to a fight. Poor Malachi could never even touch my father, but he never gave up… it took twenty-six fights for him to finally subdue my father, but they'd accepted him after the third fight." Levy smiled at the thought of her father fighting so hard for her mother. "he was willing to fight for me, no matter how the odds were stacked against him, and he never gave up in the face of defeat."

The living clay dragoness glanced down at her mother, but the elder dragoness had her bright green eyes focused on Gajeel.

"Can you see yourself growing closer to him?" She almost immediately started choking on her own tongue, and her mother gave a light laugh, nuzzling her cheek when she managed to keep herself from dying. "You don't have to answer that right now, but really think about it Levy dear… not every dragon would wait outside all night to make sure you're okay."

"Gara, I'm heading out to get breakfast! Levy-bear you wanna come fishing with your old man?" Her father's rumbling voice had them looking to him, the stone dragon standing near the entrance, wings pressed to his sides, thick tail swishing excitedly.

she shared a glance with her mother, only to find the female curled up in the nest Levy had slept in, already asleep. She turned to her waiting father, and they made their way outside together. As they padded closer to Gajeel, the steel dragon stirred, then lifted his head, turning his red gaze on them. There was a flash of relief at the sight of her, then followed by a look of disappointment when he noted her father. The males held gazes for a moment, deep brown warring against crimson. She was about to step in when her father gave a stiff nod.

"you can come with us if you'd like, son of Metallicana." Levy was quick enough to catch the look of joy that flashed through Gajeel's eyes as he stood.

It warmed her heart, seeing someone who wasn't family want to be around her.

Maybe he wasn't so bad…

* * *

At the end of the third day after their arrival, Lucy was told that she was good enough to leave Porlyusica's watchful eye. She'd snuck out the back in her semi-human form, seeing as she wanted to be alone for a while.

After Natsu had returned from wherever her father dragged him off to, he'd been himself, but he was also more helpful and watchful. He didn't leave for more than two hours, always returning with food, was always curling up with her -she didn't really mind that-, and he barely ever let her do things on her own. At least she was finally getting to a healthier weight. She hadn't been able to even stand to retrieve something from the little collection of objects her father had brought.

That was a whole other thing. The two males cared for her, but whenever they were in the same room, her father refused to say a word to the hellfire dragon. Natsu, in turn, was always on edge, ready to move if Acnologia attacked. It was quite tiring, and Porlyusica had thrown them out numerous times.

Gray and Juvia visited on the second day, already in perfect sync. The sea dragoness was delighted when she saw the eclipse dragoness, and had proceeded to tell Lucy about everything that had happened up until that point. Apparently, Erza and Jellal had been caught sneaking around the densely forested island multiple times, Levy's parents had warmed up, slightly to Gajeel, and Mira had started working at the island's bar as a bartender.

Laxus was seldom seen, usually on patrol around the island, and when he wasn't working, he was with Mira. Lisanna had yet to awake, but that was mostly due to exhaustion.

Slipping between the mighty trees, she huffed when her dress caught on branches and rocks. It was old, a simple slip for when she spent short times in this form, and not designed for much, if any stress or tension.

A warm breeze ruffled her still oversized wings and her tail feathers. Her golden hair hung in a braided high-ponytail, so it swayed with every step. She used her wings to get clear over a large fallen tree, then pulled the limbs around her, cloaking herself with their softness and darkness. She spent another few minutes walking before an odd noise reached her ears.

It sounded like the cries of a small animal in pain. Following the sound, she reached a heavily forested area, and immediately wanted to gouge out her eyes. It turned out that those pained cries of a small animal were actually the breathy cries of a certain blood dragoness.

 _How was she bending like that?!_

Turning around with a face that rivalled the red of Natsu's scales, she walked in a random direction, determined to think happy thoughts. She didn't even notice the tree looming in front of her, two hands on her shoulders saving her nose from a painful meeting with the tree. Her wings snapped out right away and her tail lashed out, smacking whoever snuck up on her. They hit the ground with a loud squawk, and she spun to face them, eyes widening as she took in the dragon on the ground.

His wings, tail, and scales told her who it was, but she didn't expect what else she saw. His skin was a beautiful tan color, stretched over a lean, muscular body. He had a six-pack?! Eyes trailing up from his beautiful body -like seriously, was he carved from marble-, she looked over his face. High cheekbones and a nose slightly crooked from a break. His thin lips were a shade darker than his skin, opened slightly so she could see his teeth, his canines still fanged, glinting in the light.

Their eyes met, and she found herself completely trapped in their deep jade depths. It was when he sat up that she finally broke their gazes apart, and her eyes drifted up to land on his spiky pink hair.

"pink?" he stood up quickly at that, cheeks a pale pink colour, fingers combing through his salmon pink locks.

"It's salmon…"

Natsu had been extremely surprised when he'd landed eyes on Lucy. Long golden braided hair draped down to stop just above the curve of her behind, it reflected the light in a way similar to real gold. With plush, pink lips, and high cheekbones that defined her face, he found himself locked on her. Her large, expressive amber eyes had captured him completely. He could feel them sweeping his own body, and he praised himself for spending the hours of work required to obtain his figure.

When she called his hair pink, he couldn't help but defend it, because pink was not a colour that was really attractive on a male.

She didn't seem to mind though. Lucy approached him as if he would bite, hesitantly reaching up to card her fingers through his hair, much to his pleasure. He couldn't stop the quiet purr building in his chest, and she seemed to notice it.

"woah… did you just?" Natsu nodded with a hint of a blush, then almost jumped when she pressed her ear against his chest, trying to listen for the noise. He blinked down at her, not sure on what else to do. She eventually stepped away, a grin twisting her lips, and he paused, taking a closer look at her.

Her cheeks were actually slightly hollow, her arms were too thin, and if he could see more of her figure, he had no doubt that he'd be able to see her bones in some places. He forced himself to ignore her large chest, crossing his arms over his chest, looking like an annoyed parent.

"Why'd you run off without me Luce? What if something happened?" the female dropped her head, a healthy blush developing on her cheeks. "What happened?"

"I may have seen something that could get me stabbed…" she mumbled. He blinked then laughed.

"You'll be fine, Jellal and Erza have been caught by almost every dragon on the island." He joked. She pouted up at him, crossing her arms over her chest lightly. "now c'mon, I've got something waiting for you. It's at my den, but we can bring it to yours if you'd like…" she shrugged, indifferent, then lead the way back, much to Natsu's amusement.

He just hoped his parents wouldn't embarrass him.

* * *

She was getting ready to go visit Lisanna when it happened. The bar was already closed, but there were two dragons sitting towards the entrance, their eyes following her as she cleaned up and prepped for the next day.

As she went over to order them out, they stood, moving towards her like a predator hunting their prey. The brown scaled one blocked her exit, bulky frame keeping her within the building. His partner, a mossy green dragon, stood in front of her. He reeked of dragonroot and liquor. "pretty little thing aren't ya…" he paused, tongue flapping uselessly in his mouth. "Betcha'd love to be bred by two strong dragons… wouldn't ya…" she snarled, completely revolted by his offer.

Black stained her white scales, and she growled.

"touch me and you lose your life wyrms." They blinked then laughed.

"Like you could even scratch us! We're the alphas!" the one by the door slurred. She rolled her eyes, getting into a fighting stance.

"we'll see about that."

They charged her at once.

This was gonna be fun.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hunting: Chapter 5**

* * *

Mira's sharp talons tore across the green dragon's eye and muzzle, then body-checked the brown one with a growl. She barred her sharp teeth with a snarl, then leapt at the brown male. Her teeth clamped tight on the back of his neck, just where his neck met his shoulders, and the taste of blood filled her mouth. She ignored it, her magic roaring up from her core, tearing through scales and searing at what lay beneath.

The dragon roared in agony and thrashed in an attempt to free himself, only to crumple into a heap a moment later. She cut off the stream of magic and jumped away, attention going back to the green dragon, who had recovered enough from her previous attack to charge her. He roared as he pounced, and she grinned, slipping beneath him and catching his tail between her teeth. Yet again, the taste of blood filled her mouth. She dragged him around, and with a muffled growl, threw him like a rag doll.

Mira followed the downed dragon, teeth closing around his throat while she pinned him with a foot on the side of his chest, talons ready to rip through scales and muscle. He whimpered his submission below her, she realized, but something deep within her, something _dark_ , urged her on. It would be better if she killed him, he would probably attack more dragons if he lived.

He yelled while her jaws began to slowly close, teeth easily cutting through scales, tissue and anything else in the way. The taste and scent of blood was overwhelming, and she was far too happy to float in the euphoria it brought her. Something gripped her by the back of the neck and yanked her off her prey. She spun to snap at it with a hiss, only to pause at the sight of golden scales.

His oddly delicious scent of copper and morning dew had her coming back to her senses. He released her after a moment, using a wing to turn her head to face him. She didn't understand the look of worry and concern on his face, but it still made her heart ache as her scales shifted back from black to white.

"Laxus…"

"Oh Mira… What happened?"

* * *

They were getting along swimmingly. Gray had met the sea dragoness' parents, and they had immediately loved him, _and_ he realized that Juvia was not even close to as bad as her parents. It was… an eye-opening experience to say the least.

When he took her to meet his parents, well, it didn't go as well as he'd hoped. There'd been a lot of embarrassing questions, awkward stares, and off-hand comments that had both young dragons itching to get away. They'd ended up laughing it off after they'd left.

Now, they were relaxing on the sandy shores of a lake on the northern side of Tenrou, a few other dragons lounging around. Juvia was drawing little pictures in the sand, sometimes dropping sand on the ice dragon when he started to nod off. A group of hatchlings ran by, tripping over their own legs and tails, grins on their muzzles. A short moment later, a fledgling dragon followed, bright white feathers near blinding in the light.

Juvia felt her heart melt at the sight. She'd always wanted to have little ones of her own, to watch over, snuggle, give the world to. She'd give anything to have them, and after a glance at her dear Gray, she was almost too sure that he would too.

Once upon a time, she'd imagined her hatchlings being sea dragons through and through, but now, the thought of them running around with icy blue or silvery blue scales and eyes that glittered like the rarest of sapphires. They would be so beautiful…

"I'm gonna go swim Juvia, you wanna come?" she almost missed his question, but the moment her brain finally decided to understand, she was up on her feet, more than ready to dive into the gently moving waters. He chuckled lightly at her reaction, standing up as well and shaking any sand sticking to his scales off. Juvia didn't wait for him, speed walking to the cool liquid and slipping in.

It felt so good, rippling over her form, its playful but calm nature adorable. Gray floated not too far away from her, and she watched him form tiny chunks of ice around him. He probably enjoyed cooler waters than this.

She sent a little wave at him, and it splashed harmlessly against his face. He squawked in surprise, then glared playfully at her. Gray swam closer, and she watched, fully ready for the incoming attack.

Neither payed attention to their surroundings as they played and swam, not noticing when the sky turned to a beautiful orange then eventually to a purplish blue. A hum of magic rippled through the water, and the sea dragoness paused from where she had half thrown herself over Gray's shoulders, trying to get him underwater.

Slipping off him with a pout, she started towards shore, glancing back at him when he nudged her side, disappointment in his eyes.

"Your parents came to my parents' den, they're mad and they're looking for you." Her worried tone had him hurrying up, and they booked it back towards their families before someone ended up losing a limb.

Upon arrival, they both decided they wanted to crawl into a hole, because their fathers were rolling around like hatchlings, and their mothers practically skipped over when their eyes landed on their children.

Why was family so awkward?

* * *

She watched him as he pulled up his pants up over trim hips, making sure to keep his tail from tangling with the fabric. He glanced up at her through his eyelashes, and she felt her heart stutter for a moment, her fingers toying with the ends of a lock of scarlet hair.

Erza wasn't too sure on how they'd managed to already reach the mating stage, but she wasn't going to complain about it. He was a very compassionate lover. They would most likely be moving slower if they had their parents here, but she wasn't even remotely against how quickly they were going.

When they'd arrived on Tenrou, she'd dragged him off to a more secluded part of the island to talk, and that talk had somehow become an emotion filled wrestling match. What had followed after that had been one of her favorite moments of her life. When they woke, wrapped around each other, she'd felt a comfort she had not felt for a long, long time, but she was terrified at the same time. What if he decided to leave her?

He had easily squashed that fear the moment he woke, nuzzling into the crook of her neck and whispering meaningless nothings into her ear as his hand caressed her bare side.

Now, as they quickly dressed, she couldn't help but grin when he accidentally placed a foot on his tail, jumping with a yelp. He glared half-heartedly, straightening up and taking purposeful strides towards her. Erza raised a brow but stayed where she was, looking up at him with an inquisitive look. If either of them leaned forwards, just a fraction of an inch, their chests would press against each other. They were both tempted to close the distance.

"I have to go… I promised to go help with the island patrol. We're taking off soon." His voice was barely above a whisper, but she heard him all the same, lips twisting down in a frown. "Hey, don't worry, its only for the day. Why don't you go see Lucy and Lisanna while I'm gone, we haven't really spoken too much to the others since we all arrived."

"…Alright. I do miss them…" most of their time had been consumed by them trying to find a good location for their den, seeing as they currently didn't have one, but she supposed it would be a good idea to see her friends. Jellal smiled warmly down at her, and she rolled her eyes, getting up on her toes to press a quick kiss against his cheek. He chuckled, hands wrapping loosely around her waist.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, have fun ok?" the concern in his voice had her near melting in his arms, and she nodded, not sure what else to say. His eyes scanned her face for a moment before he released her, stepping far enough away that he was able to spread his main wings enough to lift himself off the ground.

He was in the air with three beats of his silver feathered wings, and he easily weaved his way up through the heavy forest canopy and into the sky.

Erza watched from the ground until she couldn't see the feathers of his tail, then turned, thoughts drifting as she trudged her way back to Sanctuary.

Thirty minutes later, she was leaving a cute little shop, standing in her full dragon form. A small sack hung from a string around her neck, heavy with her recent purchase. She weaved through the busy crowd, careful to keep from bumping into anyone, baring fangs at anyone who leered or watched her as she moved.

A few of the younger males watched her with cocky looks, she could hear them chattering about how they thought they could easily take her down. An older dragon, only tall enough to reach her shoulder shushed them, pale yellow, near white scales flashing in the sunlight.

He glanced back at her as he herded the young dragons away, sending her an apologetic look. Erza huffed out a breath then continued to the infirmary, quietly stepping inside. It was relatively empty, Porlyusica's pale pink scales easy to spot near the back. The elderly dragoness had a pair of glasses siting on her muzzle, scarlet eyes scanning what Erza would assume was a medical tome.

Her attention drifted to the side, where someone was completely asleep, judging by the rise and fall of their chest. She stepped fully inside, and the healer looked up, scanning over the blood dragoness before nodding towards the sleeping dragon.

Keeping her steps light, she moved over to Lisanna's unconscious form, a soft grin twisting her lips when she saw Mira's larger head poking out of the covers, her neck becoming a pillow for her sister. The darkheart dragon's cobalt blue eyes blinked up at her, slightly glazed as they focused. The look of slight confusion quickly became joy, and Mira smiled up at her, careful not to jostle her sister.

"Erza! No one's seen you since we got here…" she spoke in a hushed tone, eyes repeatedly drifting to her fledgling sister. Erza's sharp mahogany eyes narrowed when she noticed something tinting the darkheart dragon's red.

"What happened Mira?" the white scaled dragon flinched at the question, eyes shifting anywhere but to the red dragoness. Erza frowned when her podmate withdrew, quickly assuming something had caused the darkheart dragoness to lose control. Leaning her head towards Mira, she nuzzled her comfortingly, blowing a puff of air in her face as she leaned back, earning her a glare. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"thanks Erza… so what have you been doing since we all arrived. No one from our pod's seen you in Sanctuary." Mira's lips tilted up in an innocent grin, "You and Jellal must be cozy, you smell more like him than yourself." She found a really interesting crack in the floor, and if she could blush in this form, she'd look like a tomato. She could practically feel Mira roll her eyes, and fought back the urge to scowl at her rival/bestfriend, knowing it wouldn't dissuade the dragoness in the slightest.

Mira sighed after a moment of silence, and Erza knew she was smiling despite the fact that she couldn't see her.

"How have the others been, I'm planning to go visit them sometime today."

"Oh! Juvia and Gray are getting along really well, they don't leave each other alone much if at all. Levy's… tolerating Gajeel, he refuses to leave her unguarded despite her parents being there." She drifted off at that, throwing her sister a quick glance when the dark dragon shifted with a happy trill. "Lucy, well, she got out of here last night I believe. Natsu's been pampering her since we got here, even faced her father without showing a lick of fear. They're all so cute together! Can you imagine what their hatchlings will look like?" Mira rambled on, and Erza laughed, shaking her head.

"So how are things between you and Laxus?" if Mira's scales could get any paler, they would've. There was no way Mira was avoiding this conversation.

* * *

Levy glowered at Gajeel as he managed to scoop up another giant fish from the crashing ocean waves. They'd come out to the eastern shore of Tenrou about half an hour ago, and had started their little fishing contest only minutes ago. She'd managed to spear her twin tails through a fish the size of her forearm, and had lifted it victoriously in her talons, only to pause when the iron dragon copied the move, but holding the fish.

Immediately, she worked harder to catch the slippery things, but she didn't react fast enough, and most got away from her. Their catches rested on a rock off to the side, high up and out of the way of the waves.

Her talons wrapped around a decently sized fish, and she killed it as she brought it to their growing pile. There were already thirteen there when she dropped hers off, and she knew she only managed to catch about five so far.

Something flew past her nose, and she flinched as the two fish added to their pile. Levy glared at the iron dragon as he winged off, easily hearing his laughter. They only needed twenty fish, so if she wanted to at least tie their score, she'd have to catch five before he caught one. The probability of victory was nil.

There was a flash of silver below her, and she immediately dropped into a nose dive, plunging into the water. Her target sped off, but it couldn't get far enough, Levy lunging forwards and wrapping her talons around its thick frame. It was larger than she had thought, and she was having quite a bit of trouble as she hauled it up and out of the water, its tail smacking harshly against her forearms.

With a small, triumphant growl, the fish slumped dead in her grasp, and she dropped it off with the others, more than twice the size of the largest fish.

"Nice job Shrimp, we're all done 'ere." Gajeel's deep voice had her wings missing their beat for a second, and she teetered in the air, glaring at him while she balanced herself. The way the corners of his lips tilted up had her glare intensifying, and she huffed out a puff of air. "C'mon, y'ere pops wanted ya back once we were done."

The stone dragon's stern instructions were difficult to forget, and it was easy to tell that the iron dragon in front of her was not in the mood to test the elder dragon's patience. Levy didn't wait to see if he was moving, wings carrying her eagerly back to land, where she could rinse all the salt from her scales.

When they reached solid land, she glanced back at the little rock that held all of their fish, glad to see that there was a pair of dragons throwing them onto a net then flying it in to land.

"Gods, I love having a collection team." She mused. From behind her, she heard Gajeel hum, his attention obviously not on her. There was the sound of something cutting through the air, then something fell right in front of her nose. Levy barely caught it, lips twisting in a half smile as she realized what it was. "thanks."

"huh, what'd I do Shrimp?" ignoring the odd little pet name, only because he got her this giant piece of fruit, no other reason, she bit into it's fleshy skin, surprised by how sweet and flavourful it was. Quickly scarfing down the rest of the fruit, she grinned at Gajeel when his scarlet eyes fell on her, the way he swung his head up and out of her sight almost comedic.

He was proving that he was more than what she'd first believed.

He still had his head held high, and eyes directed to the side, so when he walked into a tree and _cracked_ it with his face. Levy blinked, then completely lost her composure, cackling like a mad man.

"y-you..!"

"yeah yeah I know…"

* * *

When he said that he had to get something from his den, she'd expected to be a quick in and out, but when a small dark grey dragon practically tackled him, she knew they'd be there for a while. Lucy giggled when Natsu was pulled down by his horns, his mother's deep blue eyes scanning his face.

"My little one's all grown up! You're so handsome, just like your father!" he looked slightly embarrassed, grinning sheepishly. It was when she started completely looking him over that he finally said something.

"mom, we have company…" she froze, the claw on her wing forcing her son's wing as high as possible. Her head swung to face Lucy, and it looked like she completely blanked at the sight of the eclipse dragon. Her eyes widened almost comically, and she darted to Lucy's side, lips twisting in a warm smile. The dark-scaled dragoness subconsciously noticed the slight limp from her elder's right hind leg, giving the smaller dragon an equally warm smile.

"My my, my little hatchling's brought home such a beautiful dragon! It's nice to meet you, I'm Cynthia Dragneel Libra, it's a mouthful, I know." Lucy giggled, shaking her head.

"It's fine, I'm Lucy Heartfilia Deus-Chao." Cynthia's sparkling eyes widened, and her head whipped around to face her son, who jumped slightly at the sudden move.

"She's Acnologia's hatchling?" Natsu was more surprised than Lucy, who looked like she completely expected it, and not knowing what to do, he stiffly nodded his head, jumping again when his mother squealed like a happy hatchling. "Star-crossed lovers! How sweet! You must stay for lunch, there's more than enough!" the elder dragon was practically bouncing, and neither of them could say no.

"That sounds great Mrs. Dragneel!"

"No need to use titles here Lucy, Cynthia is just fine, but if you decide to call me mom, I won't stop you." Thank the gods that she wasn't in her half form right now, because if she were, she'd be as bright as a tomato. A glance at Natsu told her he was just as embarrassed, judging by the steam he huffed out with every breath, and how he glared halfheartedly at his mother.

Cynthia moved to stand beside Lucy, a wing wrapping over the eclipse dragon's back, their sides pressed together, and the elder dragon lead the way into the den, practically skipping. Natsu lead the way in, then started to shift into his half-form, disappearing through one of the four doors that she could see.

"follow me Lucy, I should have something for you to wear." The females both shifted, disappearing into a door opposite to the one that Natsu had gone through.

It was a simple common room, with two plush looking chairs and a huge oak chest. Cynthia, wings wrapped around her bare body, opened the chest, uncovering a plethora of colorful clothes. Lucy lifted her eyes from the chest, about to thank her host, only to pause.

There was no longer a question of whether Natsu's good looks came from luck or his parents, the blonde completely stunned at the beauty that his mother possessed. Wavy black hair fell all the way down her back, reaching just past the base of her tail. Her eyes, as blue as the ocean, sparkled, with flecks of purple swimming in her irises, long lashes fluttering when she blinked. Cynthia's olive skin was absolutely flawless, with freckles peppering the bridge of her nose and the tops of her cheeks.

Lucy could see parts of Natsu in her, the lips, eyes, and the jawline.

It seemed that Cynthia had taken a moment to look over the dragoness her son had brought home, the surprised look on her face an obvious tell.

"You look so much like your mother! She was one of the most beautiful dragoness' I'd ever met, and you definitely take after her, but you have your father's nose." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I'm sorry for your loss, Layla held a place in many hearts. In fact, when we were fledglings, she'd spend her days in the infirmary, helping to take care of many of the sick or injured. She was so unique, dragons are inherently selfish, but she wasn't..."

The blonde felt tears prick at her eyes, a soft smile twisting her lips. Cynthia smiled back, picking out a set of clothes and handing over. Giving a quick 'thank you', Lucy moved to a corner of the room, putting on the strapless corset style top. It was a nice shade of off-white with light blue trim, buttoning up along the middle.

She was careful when she put the skirt on, the fabric buttoning up at her back, a hole made in it so they wouldn't restrain their tails. It matched nicely with the top, stopping around mid-thigh. Quickly putting her hair in one braid, she turned back to Cynthia, who had slipped on a cute silvery black dress that stopped just above her knees. The elder dragon lead the way out of the room, opening a rather heavy looking door to reveal a hall, which would most likely lead to the rest of the den.

Walking behind the raven haired dragoness, Lucy caught sight of a nasty scar marring the membrane of Cynthia's left wing, a memory of a painful injury from her past.

They soon reached a nicely decorated living room, a few plush sofas circling a round table with a few different items scattered on its surface. There was a kitchen behind the furthest sofa, completely open so that anyone could see inside it.

A dragon, most likely Natsu's father, was lounging on a sofa, lying on his stomach, one bright red wing draped out over the top of the sofa, the other sprawled out. He was snoring up a storm, and Lucy heard Cynthia giggle at her mate's odd positioning, the dark-haired female bouncing over to him and pressing a quick kiss to his temple. He grumbled and buried his face further into the cushions.

"he'll wake up once the food starts cooking, my boys have bottomless stomachs." She spoke as she padded back to Lucy, a smile on her lips. Her eyes moved over the blonde's shoulder, and she let out a huff at what she saw. Turning, Lucy couldn't help but gawk at the hellfire dragon behind her.

He was completely shirtless, with a pair of white harem pants on, but she ignored the eye candy in favour of gawking. He'd tied a white scaled scarf around his head like a bandana, the ends draped over his shoulders, the material completely hiding his shock of salmon hair.

"I thought I told you not to do that… you look better without that old thing." He shrugged at his mother's words, emerald eyes on Lucy, then gave Cynthia an impish grin.

"you know I don't care about how I look." The glint in the blonde's eyes had him immediately regretting what he'd said, near ready to run when she started taking steps toward him.

"Really now? Mrs. Dragneel, would you happen to have any makeup?" the look of pure terror that washed over Natsu's face had her fighting back peals of laughter, barely able to keep a straight face. Cynthia hummed, standing beside Lucy, arms folded delicately over her chest, eyes on her son.

"I do have some. I'll go get it, and please forgo all formalities Lucy." The dark haired dragoness stalked off, smiling wickedly when Natsu gave her a pleading look. When that failed, he turned his attention to Lucy, shivering when she gave a sickly sweet grin.

"now Luce, don't do something you're gonna regret…" his hands were held up in surrender, and she stepped closer to him, able to lay a palm flat against his chest if she just lifted it.

"Oh, there's no way I'll regret this." Quickly capturing his outstretched hands, she held him tight by his wrists, barely keeping a hold of him as he squirmed.

After a good minute of their awkward little tussle, Natsu had ended up face-first in a sofa, with Lucy straddling his back to hold him down.

Cynthia came back into the room not a moment later, and as they set up to begin his torture, he hoped that there was at least one god, _one,_ that liked him.

* * *

It had been nearly three centuries since their pod had returned to the sacred land of Tenrou, and they all loathed their return. But they had a task to complete, and none would stand in their way. Come hell or high water, they would succeed, no matter who suffered along the way.

* * *

 **A/N: hey guys, I finally updated this story, sorry about the long wait! things are slowly going to start picking up, and our first 'battle' arc is coming real soon! Was anyone really surprised with how fast Erza and Jellal's relationship was moving? the whole reason behind that is that they both didn't really have anyone to talk to about their relationship, so they unleashed all of their feelings onto each other, which wasn't a bad thing.**

 **I really love writing in the parent dragons, so expect next chapter to feature at least two more parents, either Laxus' mother and Juvia's father, or Gajeel's mother and Juvia's mother!**

 **Final little thing I have to talk about, I promise! if you guys want to see any little spoilers of the next chapters for any of my stories, go check out my Tumblr (stardragonxx)! I'll be posting little spoilers and some one-shots there, so if you wanna check that stuff out, it's there for you! you can also contact me through there if you'd like!  
Okay? Okay.**

 **Bye.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hunting chapter 6**

* * *

It didn't take much time for them to get back to the den. At one point during the walk, Levy had clambered up onto Gajeel's broad back, looking akin to a scavenger on the back of one of their little horses, while being careful to keep from cutting herself on his sharp spikes. He didn't complain much, although he did start to suddenly stop at every little movement, nearly throwing her off.

A swift knock to the head stopped that. With a more peaceful ride, Levy found her eyes drifting closed, eventually lying as flat as she could, unaware of the grin that teased the corners of Gajeel's lips. When she opened her eyes next, she noted that they were nearly her family's den, the plain grey stone exterior standing out against the overwhelming amount of colour. She could see movement inside, a flash of bright orange and a flash of white scales. Did they have visitors?

Gajeel didn't seem to notice, letting her slide from his back when they reached the entrance, his entire body stiffening in preparation of facing her parents again. Her mom already loved him and how well they contrasted but matched at the same time. Her dad was a whole other thing. Malachi had been civil with the steel dragon, but both Levy and Gajeel knew it was an unsteady truce.

She wondered if he'd allow Gajeel around her again when she noticed the noise inside, they'd exceeded their 'curfew'. Just as she moved to open the door, it swung open, revealing a white-scaled dragoness, her green eyes narrowing in on the young dragons. The stranger paid little attention to Gajeel, focused on Levy, burning a hole into her. After a few moments, the dragoness' lips turned up in a small snarl, regarding Levy as if she were some lowly wyrm.

" _This_ is what you picked? It looks like it wouldn't be able to even defend itself from a savage." Levy reeled back at the dragoness' statement, a loud snarl ripping from her throat when she pieced herself together.

"Wow, are you high off dragon root, or are you just that stupid? Get the fuck out of my way, or you'll see what happens when you piss me off." As expected, the white dragoness took a threatening step forwards, and Levy could hear her sucking in a breath.

"Back off Ikaruga, don't make me remind you why you left Tenrou the first time." Ikaruga flinched at Gajeel's threat, bearing her teeth at him.

"Just because you beat me once, doesn't mean it will happen again, brother." She spat the words, throwing the both of them a death glare before shoving past them, quickly rising into the sky.

"that's your sister? And I could have handled her."

"I know you could'a, but she's a nasty little bitch who'll get beat by someone worse." Her mouth opened, a response on her tongue when a voice called out.

"you brats gonna stand outside all day? C'mon, I won't bite." A rumbling voice had Levy peering inside, and she stumbled as Gajeel darted around her, a playful growl coming from the hulking male. She was quick to follow, eyes flying wide open at the sight of Gajeel tumbling around with a larger dragon that she assumed to be his father. Her parents sidled up to her side, Gara snickering quietly as Gajeel's father wrapped a thick arm around his son's neck, restraining the steel dragon.

"You two took a long time getting back, anything _interesting_ happen?"

"Yes, I'd love to know why you two were so late…" Levy sighed at her father's protectiveness, bumping his side with a wing.

"we ended up walking back through the forest instead of flying." The pout on Malachi's face had Levy laughing, which drew the attention of the father son pair, Gajeel slipping from his father's neck hold to pad over to her father. Malachi narrowed his eyes at the younger dragon, but said nothing, hissing loudly when his mate's tail smacked him hard upside the head.

"Don't be rude honey, they're back and they're both ok, that's all that matters. Gajeel, sweetie, why don't you introduce Levy to your father?" Gara's soothing voice had her mate's quiet growl stopping, and the pair immediately moved to allow for more space.

The hulking dragon from earlier practically shoved Gajeel off his feet, bowing his head slightly to Levy, lips teased up in a grin. "nice to meet ya, I was wondering what was keeping this brat from hanging around his old man. You seem to have some fire in ya." He shuffled his wings, ignoring Gajeel's look of annoyance. "M'name's Metallicana, you met Gajeel's sister, Ikaruga. Sorry bout her… bitchiness, she'll get what she deserves one day." Levy tried to hide her surprise at the father's words, nodding her head with a light smile on her face. Problem children were hellish to deal with, she'd experienced it first-hand.

"oh, she was no bother. I'm Levy!" Gajeel coughed, a small grin on his face.

"shrimp…" neither payed attention to the grin on Metallicana's face as Levy tried to strangle the childish steel dragon.

* * *

The commotion outside had Mira curiously peering between the crack of the infirmary door, noting the dragons, both elders and young adults milling around the edges of the clearing. Most were escorting fledglings into the hatcheries, while others strapped metal braces to their forearms. A pale pink dragon came up to the door, knocking once before coming in, yellow eyes falling to her, the worry in them unsettling.

"enemy dragons are on their way to Tenrou, the patrol and high guard are having any willing dragons prepared incase of a conflict." He shifted unsteadily on his feet, glancing over his shoulder. "Two or three dragons should be arriving soon to guard the infirmary, however, we're not sure about the enemies' strength, so be ready incase they manage to reach you."

Mira nodded, watching as he darted off, then spun on her heels, quick to find Porlyusica. The elder dragon's focus was solely on the little hatchling missing his left wing, teaching him how to use his only wing for balance and as an extra hand. The healer looked up after a few moments, face twisting into an annoyed scowl.

"What, I don't have time for this." The hatchling squealed before falling over, and she turned her attention to him, giving him orders to rest before focusing on the dark-heart dragon.

"There's a risk of an attack, the patrol and high guard need us to ready." The look of dread on the elder dragon's face was worrying, and Mira didn't know how to react as Porlyusica barreled out of the infirmary, not even looking back, leaving Mira to tend to everyone remaining.

It didn't take long for a few dragons to get curious, and she quickly found herself calming a young fledgling with anxiety while also keeping a battle-hungry elderly dragon from limping out to help. They were all nearly all settled when the infirmary door opened again, a familiar face peering in before focusing on Mira. Laxus was quick to move to her side, offering a flash of a smile. His forearms were covered by the metal braces, and she could see a wicked looking blade-like attachment on his tail, the lightning dragon careful to avoid hitting anything

"Mira… Jellal and I are going to be guarding everyone here, I just need to make sure you and your sister are okay." The concern in his usually harsh voice was testament to the threat the incoming dragons possessed, and she nodded, lips quirking down in a frown as she padded back over to Lisanna, well aware of how close Laxus followed behind her.

"She's a lot better, Porly said she should wake up within the day…"

"And you?" he glanced around, making sure none of the other dragons were watching. "I know I'm not the greatest, but you can talk to me Mira, what happened at the bar, that can't be sitting well with you…" she sighed, eyes falling to the ground instead of him.

"I'm fine, I just had a… momentary lapse of judgement, nothing more, nothing less." The lightning dragon sent her a disappointed look but said nothing else, nodding his golden head then turning to leave.

"if a fight starts, I know everyone here will be okay…" with you here. She knew he wanted to say that, and she was glad he didn't. she waited until he disappeared outside before curling up in her sister's nest, a soft sob bubbling out, eyes squeezed shut.

She focused herself on Lisanna's deep, strong breaths, withdrawing from the world before the darkness within her heart could flourish.

* * *

Juvia was brushing her thick cerulean blue hair over a slim shoulder when someone knocked rapidly at her door. She set the brush on the vanity as she walked, careful to avoid knocking anything around with her tail. Cracking the wooden door open, just enough to peek out into the hall, she sighed, slightly disappointed, at the sight of her father, his icy blue eyes darting to meet hers, a huffing out a breath of air.

"yes?" she raised a brow at him, nearly cringing at her bored tone. While she may have wished it was her dear Gray at her door, she knew she shouldn't have felt so disappointed at the sight of her father.

"hi Ju-ju, there's something going at Sanctuary. Your mum and I are going to go help out, that ice dragon you are friends with said he'd keep an eye on you." She swung the door open, eyes wide with surprise, and a flash of glee. Her father gave her a half-grin, ruffling her hair and earning a half-hearted glare. "if anything happens, he knows to keep you safe." His tone was off, she noted as she threw her arms around the bulk of his torso. His shirt and skin smelled of metal, and she could hear something clanging together further inside the den. Whatever was going on in Sanctuary, it wasn't going to be pretty.

"be careful, Juvia doesn't want to have to bandage you and mum up when you get back…" the words were muffled by his shirt, but he heard them well enough, a small chuckle rumbling from his chest.

"You don't have to worry about me Ju-ju, your dad's the sea king dragon, it'll take a lot to hurt me, and you know your mum's even scarier than me!" he wasn't wrong, the abyss dragon was a force of nature, with a snippy attitude for everyone other than her family.

"Juvia knows that, but neither of you are invincible…" her eyes fell to a thick scar following the curve of his skull, the raised skin a reminder of how lucky he was. Kincade Lockser was a lucky dragon, but one day, Juvia knew his luck would run dry.

"yea yea, you sound just like your mum," she glared playfully when he ruffled her hair again, patting down the abused locks. "We'll be careful Ju-ju."

"Kincade! I will leave you behind if you don't get your ass over here!" her mum's voice thundered through the den, a laugh bubbling up from her throat at the way her father's blue eyes blew wide open, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead before darting off, blue-grey tail lashing behind him. "We'll be back soon Juvia, don't have too much fun with your _friend_!" the playful tone had her cheeks flushing, and she huffed out a breath, shaking her head at her mother's antics.

Returning to her vanity, she found herself sifting through her accessories and other belongings, fingers tracing the sapphires set into the heavy pendant hanging from one of her favorite chains, the deep blue jewel shining brightly in the light. She struggled to clasp it securely around her throat, letting out a harsh sigh and letting it rest in an open palm.

"Hey Juvia, you need some help?" Gray's soft voice caught her attention, and she twisted to face him, a grin twisting her lips without her permission.

"Oh… if Gray-sama doesn't mind…" he blinked, looking almost surprised by the answer, but was quick to move to her side, dark eyes sweeping over her before landing on the necklace. Brushing her hair over a shoulder, Juvia turned her back to him, watching in the mirror as he fiddled with the clasp, smothering her giggles at his furrowed brows, no doubt far too concentrated on his current task. A short period of fumbling later, he let out a loud sigh, hands falling to his sides, eyes lifting to meet her own in their reflection.

She spun, offering the ice dragon a warm smile that he was a bit slow to return. Not that she really minded.

"Apparently two pods of rogues are coming to Sanctuary… most of the elders and guardians are gonna intercept them and try to minimize any problems, but for now, anyone under six hundred isn't allowed to go anywhere near Sanctuary or go anywhere on their own." He pinched at the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezed closed for a moment. Juvia could practically feel his stress, the ice dragon was nothing if not a serial worrier. She'd found that out when she met his parents, the winter and hail dragons being doted over until his mother snapped at him to pay more attention to Juvia.

It was cute, to say the least.

* * *

They relocated to the living room for the next ten minutes, curled up on a loveseat, one of Gray's icy blue wings curled around them, their tails curled loosely around their legs. It was relatively quiet, the only noises coming from a kettle boiling and Juvia's tail repeatedly thumping against her thigh. So when a roar shattered the silence, Gray shot up, chest rumbling with a growl, keeping Juvia behind him despite her efforts to get around him.

Another roar followed the first, and Gray shot off like a bullet, storming out of the den and leaving the sea dragoness to follow after him.

By the time she was out, Gray was already in the sky, mid-shift, soaring towards a giant spire of ice, wings beating violently at the cool air. She watched for a moment, completely and utterly confused on what was going on and what to do. Should she stay at home as she was told, or should she go after her dearest?

A third roar, this one filled with pain, had her picking, as she shifted and melted into a wave of water, rushing across the lush greenery of Tenrou, towards the growing battle.

He ducked under the icy orb that hurled from the rogue dragon's talons, focus split between the downed dragon behind him and the enemy. Taking a deep breath, he let out an ear-shattering roar, disorienting everyone around him, the icy purple dragoness cringing, her wings pressing against her ears. Taking the given opportunity, he lunged forwards, jaws snapping and talons slashing, dark blue blood spilling from wherever he cut and tore. The dragoness didn't take long to get back to speed, spiked tail swinging around to slam into his shoulder, the spikes digging into him, cold blood spilling down his forearm, staining his scales dark blue.

"you're nothing!" Ultear's talons dug into his flank, and he cringed as she threw him to the side, his body bouncing once before stopping. She was quick to follow, pouncing on him with a snarl, reaching to wrap her talons around his long neck. They grappled one another, and he hissed when her tail smacked him in the side, drawing even more blood. His hind legs came up, bracing against her stomach, and he pushed as hard as he could, sending the glacier dragon flying back and off of him.

She was on her feet in an instance, an infuriated roar ripping from her throat as she charged him, only to get blind-sided by a blur of blue, Juvia's smaller form knocking Ultear to the ground. Her talons and teeth, which he noted were all serrated, ripped viciously at his half-sister, tail binding the glacier dragon's, keeping her from moving it. Ultear growled, and leapt into the air, dragging the wingless sea dragon up by her tail, freezing the limbs so that she couldn't free herself.

Gray quickly followed, trying to catch up to his half-sister before she was able to drop Juvia.

"Get back here!" of course, she didn't listen, spitting a funnel of ice that slammed into his right side, slowing him and sending him off course. They were nearly above the middle of the island, and dragons were fighting all around them. He caught a familiar flash of yellow in his peripheral, but ignored it, a roar ripping from his throat, panic filling him as ice crept even further across the length of Juvia's tail, her eyes flying wide with pain and fear. She yelled something, but he couldn't hear her well, not that he really needed to.

Her body shifted, slipping free from Ultear's grip, surprising the dragoness. She was falling, fast, and he immediately dipped into a dive, the bluenette falling a good hundred meters before he caught her, slowly leveling out, just barely above the trees. He didn't dare look at her as Ultear glided towards him, rolling out of the way as she tried to rake her talons through the webbing of his wings, cringing when Juvia yelped in his grip, no doubt not used to going through aerial maneuvers. They went through the little 'game' of cat and mouse for what felt like forever until it seemed Juvia seemed to have had enough of it.

Gray barely kept a hold of her as she shifted in his grasp, talons wrapped around her waist as she turned to face Ultear, ignoring how odd the position must look. Taking a long, deep breath, she let the sea magic collect in her mouth before unleashing a raging funnel of water that knocked the glacier dragon out of the air. She wasn't high enough to recover, knocking down a few unlucky trees before coming to a painful stop.

The ice and sea dragons were upon her before she could move, with Juvia's jaws clamped harshly on her throat and Gray standing on her side.

"release me before I tear you both limb from limb!" the snarl fell on deaf ears, the ice dragon's fangs bared viciously.

"Give us one good reason Ultear, after all, we deserve it if you decided to betray your family!" Juvia relaxed her jaw slightly, well aware that things were about to dissolve into a simple yelling match soon enough. But, did he say family?

"I betrayed no one! Because of _your_ family, she's dead! You killed her!" neither knew what to do next when the glacier dragon sobbed, tears dribbling down her pale scales.


End file.
